Byron York has a good piece on the radical anti-Bush MoveOn.org organization. He finds that despite the claims that MoveOn is a non-partisan organization, it might as well be an organ of the radical wing of the Democratic Party.
Fortunately, York draws this conclusion:
Despite it all — its anti-Bush campaign, its contributions made only to Democrats, its ties with left-wing charities — MoveOn calls itself a "nonpartisan" organization. "MoveOn.org is an issue-oriented, nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that gives people a voice in shaping the laws that affect their lives,” says its website. "MoveOn.org engages people in the civic process, using the Internet to democratically determine a nonpartisan agenda . . ."
Of course, no one believes that. Nevertheless, MoveOn is being credited with changing the face of American politics. There’s more than a little hype in that conclusion. Yes, the Internet has real potential as a fundraising tool. But so far MoveOn has not shown that it can expand its appeal beyond the hard-core, Bush-hating, antiwar Left. It can buy splashy advertisements and generate headlines. But there’s nothing to suggest that it can win elections.
York is right – and if anything groups like MoveOn and others hurt the chances of mainstream Democrats. By placing the radical left’s absolute and infantile hatred of the President front-and-center it only alienates the very swing voters needed to win. The smear tactics of MoveOn failed to produce change in 1998, 2000, and in 2002. If anything, the GOP should be thankful that the inmates at MoveOn are running the Democratic asylum – it could very well hand the 2004 election to the GOP.